RSW's Diary Comments

A color photo from inside the
Heath garage which resembles the painting

"Painted 1942 or 1943. One of my most unusual and successful paintings. The Heath Beech and view framed by the open garage doors of the Heath Pasture House, brilliant sun and framing shadow, falling on the garage floor, a corner of the house itself showing out the doors at the left. A most popular canvas! Sold, (I do not know to whom) by the Grand Central Art Galleries of N. Y. in about 1943, (possibly 1942)."

A color photo of the exterior of the Health cabin
with the ledge-rock in foreground seen in the painting.
This retreat was very special and loved by the artist.

Editor's Note:

This painting was very well reviewed by the critics in New York, much to Woodward's surprise and it hung with the award winning canvas, Snow on the Hill (Honorable Mention, Boston Art Week, 1941). In fact, the New York Times, Herald, and Sun all remarked on the painting and Woodward's discerning eye and "pictorial ingenuity." There were also two references him being prosaic (lacking poetic beauty) "yet likeable," which to us is his special niche. There is more below ⮟

The New York Times, March 8, 1942

⮜ The New York Times, Sunday, March 8, 1942

"There are the serene New England landscapes by Robert Strong Woodward, among which stands out the Invitation with its vista of fields bathed in light and seen from within a dark enclosure."

The New York Herald, March 8, 1942, By Royal Cortissoz

The New York Herald, March 8, 1942               ⮞

"The special merit of Robert Strong Woodward, who is showing twenty of his landscapes at the Grand Central Fifth Avenue Galleries, lies in his fusion of a vigorously truthful interpretation of nature with a kind of pictorial ingenuity. The 'Invitation' is a serviceable example. The scene is observed through a doorway in the foreground and this provides a shadowy frame for it. Beyond, the landscape is defined in full light. The result is an uncom-monly effective composition."

~ Royal Cortissoz

Dr. Gardner from the November, 1953,
issue of the Dartmouth Alumni magazine.
Enlarging the imagine reveals full profile.

⮜ Invitation was last known to hang in the Judge Baker Guidance Center, 295 Longwood Av., Boston, in the office of the director, Dr. George Gardner. The location today is Boston's Children's Hospital and Dr. Gardner was at one time director of both institutions, when they merged. Today they appear, again, to be separate entities with separate locations. The Judge Baker Guidance Center, known today simply as, The Baker Center for Children and Families is in the Mission Hill section of Boston and the Children's Hospital is still at the Longwood Avenue address.

We do not believe the Dr. Gardner owned the painting and his letter to Woodward (below) does not help us as much as we'd like. Dr. Gardner claims to have "looked" for the canvas for a very long time. He also mentions having seen the painting previously, and assures Woodward it looks as good as it did then. We also learn the two men once met in person and that Woodward was not well at the time. Finally, he expresses hope that when he visits the area again, that he will be able to call on and visit Woodward again. Unfortunately, it is unlikely they did meet. The letter is addressed 10 weeks before the artist will pass away on June 26, 1957. ⮟

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Letter from George Gardner to Woodward typed
and signed on Judge Baker Guidence Center letterhead

April 4, 1957

Mr. Robert S. Woodward
Buckland, Massachusetts

Dear Mr. Woodward:
   I am writing to tell you that my search for your canvas "Invitation" has at last been successful and that the painting now hangs in my office here at the Judge Baker, which is a part of the Children's Medical Center.
   Needless to say, Mr. Woodward, I am delighted to have this picture, which I have looked for for so long a time. And I know, too, that this notice will allow you to complete your files as to the location of all the canvases that you have done. The picture itself is as beautiful as it was when I saw it years ago, and I do wish you were able to get to Boston to see it.
   I hope, Mr. Woodward, that you are feeling much better in body than when I saw you two years ago. I intend to come up to the Franklin County area in the not too distant future, and I hope an advance call to you will allow me to see you
        With kindest regards,

Sincerely yours,
George E. Gardner
Director

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Dr. Lunt on his wedding day some time
in the late 1910s. A psychiatrist, he ran the
Valleyhead Hospital in Concord, MA. When
the U.S. joined WWII, it was closed and
Lawrence served with the civil air patrol
off the eastern coast.

⮝ As we are prone to do here at the website, we consider what we know and try to figure out what happened. We do not think Dr. Gardner owned the painting. We believe he would have said so. In 1957, the painting was 15 years old. There are so many questions—It did not seem to be privately owned, otherwise how did Dr. Gardner procure it and not mention it? From what we know, here is what we believed happened. Dr. Gardner came to visit Woodward in 1955. During their meeting, Dr. Gardner must have mentioned seeing Invitation hanging somewhere either in the Baker Center or the Children's Hospital. Woodward responds that he never learned what happen to it, only that it was sold. Dr. Gardner promises to find it for him and get him the information he seeks. It takes him two years to do this indicating that the canvas was no longer where he last saw it. As the director of the both institutions he begins to ask around. His initial effort does not produce any results. He then starts to dig deeper, looking for records relating to artwork etc. and talk to custodians. When he does locate it, it was perhaps, not stored properly, or something to that effect. Why else would he tell Woodward, assuringly, "The picture itself is as beautiful as it was when I saw it years ago...?"

We have a story of a janitor at UMass who found a Woodward painting in a supply closet no one knew was there. Institutions misplace things. It happens, however, we cannot help wondering how Invitation made its way to Boston when it never exhibited there? Who else could be involved that would link the painting to what is basically a psychiatric guidance center for kids? Could it be that Woodward's long time friend and psychiatrist, Dr. Lawrence K. Lunt, founder of the Valleyhead Hospital in Concord, MA, is somehow invloved in this? A long time friend from Woodward's arrival in Boston in 1910 and a ardent supporter early in his career. Dr. Lunt was involved in getting two paintings into the collections of the Stockbridge Public Library, and the Austin Riggs Foundation (also a psychiatric facility where Lunt once worked). It would be complete conjecture to say he was involved and yet we still think he may have been.

The Emblem for the Civil Air Patrol

Dr. Lunt had a falling out with Woodward. We do not know the year. Lunt never says in his letter to us. The Lunts owned three paintings according to Woodward's records. Invitation is not one of them. Valleyhead Hospital held at least 10 exhibitions of Woodward's paintings over an eleven year span. Some paintings, like he did with other institutions, remanded on the walls in the parlor of the hospital. When World War II broke out the hospital closed and Dr. Lunt went to serve in the war effort with the Civil Air Patrol (CAP).

Lunt is from a prestigious family. His father was a federal judge in Colorado, his grandfather was one of the founders of Northwestern University and Evanston, Il. He has connections everywhere and it would be no surprise to us if he was somehow involved. He is in the same field, psychiatry, and is in the same area of Greater Boston, and his falling out with Woodward would keep him from telling the artist about the painting until after they make up years later. Somehow or another, we believe Lunt knew about the painting even if he was not directly involved.

⮞ We will be contacting the Children's Hospital to see if the painting is in their collection. (Sept. 2025)